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KBR President and Chief Executive Officer William Utt answers questions during an interview. KBR, the largest contractor in Iraq, is pulling out of that country so slowly that it could end up costing American taxpayers $193 million more than expected, according to a new Pentagon audit.
AP Photo

“Why, if it’s so important, are we failing to do something so basic,” asked Shays, noting that contractors seem to have an incentive to muddy the waters. While contractors could provide clear information about how many employees are getting paid and what they’re doing, Shays said, “I’m not sure they really want to.”

Tiefer released a list of the top contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan in late 2008 and early 2009. According to his list, KBR held four of the 10 largest defense contracts in Iraq, worth about $7 billion. Dyncorp was the largest State Department contractor, with four of the top 10 contracts.

Blackwater retained two of the top 10 State Department contracts, worth $178.1 million. The government of Iraq revoked the company’s license to operate in Iraq last January after its employees were implicated in the killing of 17 Iraqi civilians.

"But April Stephenson, the outgoing director of DCAA, flatly disagreed, saying, “I believe there should have been something in writing much better than we saw.” She added that it was “completely” the responsibility of KBR to bring forward a plan for drawing down more quickly."

It is stories like this that highlight the problems with the government running anything. I find it amazing that April Stephenson feels it is the responsibility for the contractor (KBR) to bring forward a plan for their draw-down. The government is the customer and KBR is the service provider. In private business the customer decides the terms and duration associated with the contract. All the Obama administration had to do was advise KBR of the date the money would stop coming and then ask KBR to come up with a draw-down plan.

I have never seen anyone in private business want to fire an employee, and then keep that person on the payroll indefinetly while they wait for the employee to provide the employer with a termination plan in writing. I find it rather pathetic that the government wants to take over the health insurance industry and they cannot even manage one contractor in Iraq.

In his bestselling book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, John Perkins writes of the tragic bankrupting of undeveloped countries by our corporations and notes that Iraq is a "continuation of this shameful story." Of course, now the country being bankrupted for generations is America.

It is interesting that the neocon warmongers, who never gave a thought to America's financial future, now are suddenly concerned that spending money on domestic programs is "generational theft." The generational thieves are the war profiteers.

It is interesting that the neocon warmongers, who never gave a thought to America's financial future, now are suddenly concerned that spending money on domestic programs is "generational theft." The generational thieves are the war profiteers.

Heckuva job, Bushie!

Actually, it might have been a good job, since Halliburton, KBR, etc, have unknown amounts of money given to them by the US government, and then they turn around and donate huge sums to the Republican backers of the war. Nice work if you can get it.

"questioned whether it was in contractors’ interest to “drag their heels as much as possible” to collect more money."

heh, ya think? This is why some tasks should be done by the federal government, not private enterprise. Our military is quite capable; we should spend the money on them, not KBR, and make sure they have everything they need and full medical care. Our veterans deserve it.

Interesting that Ike, upon leaving office, warned us to beware the military industrial complex. LBJ had a cozy relationship Brown and Root (later KBR) getting them lucrative contracts, etc. Eight days before JFK was assassinated, JFK said in his (final) news conference that he did not want to put US troops into Vietnam. Obviously LBJ did. This is blood money.

Statements by Barack Obama on October 2, 2002, about 6 months before ‘Shock and Awe” was administered in Iraq.

"I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of Al Qaeda. I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars."

"So for those of us who seek a more just and secure world for our children, let us send a clear message to the President today. You want a fight, President Bush? Let's finish the fight with Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a homeland security program that involves more than color-coded warnings. You want a fight, President Bush?"

"Let's fight to make sure that the UN inspectors can do their work, and that we vigorously enforce a non-proliferation treaty, and that former enemies and current allies like Russia safeguard and ultimately eliminate their stores of nuclear material, and that nations like Pakistan and India never use the terrible weapons already in their possession, and that the arms merchants in our own country stop feeding the countless wars that rage across the globe. You want a fight, President Bush?"

Statements by John McCain after “Shock and Awe” was adminstered in Iraq.

June 11, 2003, in response to this question: NEIL CAVUTO (host): Senator -- after a conflict means after the conflict, and many argue the conflict isn't over.”

McCAIN: Well, then why was there a banner that said mission accomplished on the aircraft carrier? Look, the -- I have said a long time that reconstruction of Iraq would be a long, long, difficult process, but the conflict -- the major conflict is over, the regime change has been accomplished, and it's very appropriate. In two weeks, General Franks is going to come before the Senate Armed Services Committee, and we're going to have his overall assessment of the conflict. I think that's entirely appropriate because we'll be -- we'll be taking up the needs of the Defense Department and the men and women in the military on the Armed Services Committee. But I'm looking for an overall review of the conflict, what we did right, what we did wrong, and what the needs are, including the issue of weapons of mass destruction. I remain confident that we will find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Statements by Sarah Palin 4 years after the Iraq war began and in response to a question about the surge "I haven't thought about it. I've been so focused on state government; I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq,"

Scott McCellean says bush tricked America about Iraq, On the Yahoo’s front page (no research), there was an article that said a million dead Iraqis because of the US led invasion.

>http://www.latimes.com/news/p... (I Bet that statistic will all over Algezeera and create animosity and exponentially more terrorists)

4500 dead Americans, 35,000 seriously wounded, the second biggest humanitarian crisis on planet earth, http://abcnews.go.com/Internat... 3T dollars (that we haven’t paid 1 dollar for yet) http://www.timesonline.co.uk/t... divided the world and more importantly our allies, the military is ruined, 9 billion dollars “lost” http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WO... and remember Saddam didn’t want none he invited the CIA into the country before the war to help the weapons inspectors look for WMD’s We could have closed a deal http://www.foxnews.com/story/0... and now its “working” or we are “wining” because the violence is down to 2004/2005 levels? This was shoved down our throats and managed by Conservative Republicans

It appears to me that the war in Iraq was largely a success as compared to the billions of dollars of TARP money spent on banks to blow it in the next Stock Market bubble that is currently under way.

The bottom line is that unless the military closes more camps and consolidates into one massive target, oops I mean camp, then how do you cut services to the military? If you have 80,000 soldiers instead of 160,000- the mail, water and other services still move the same way. It is economics of scale. It still takes one person to handle 3 incoming packages of mail, or 3 bottles of water as it does 6.

My question is why isn't Obama pressing the Iraqi's to bid out oil development to US companies instead of Chinese companies to defray our expenses?

We are about the only country in the world that fights for free. There is a big difference between being a poor country and at war and being a rich country at war. Iraq just happened to be a rich country at war. It goes againt the grain of the Obamanites, who prefer the world like us if we give everything away, but screw em. "We got rid of Sadam now pay up" is my motto. Obama can go cry about injustices to the world's poor (as all of his trillons of TARP money gets used and abused by Wall Street) on someone elses dime.

The reason the US is slow to recover from recession is because all of Obama's TARP money to banks went right back into the Wall St. Casino to build the next bubble vs. going into US factories and production.

My question is why isn't Obama pressing the Iraqi's to bid out oil development to US companies instead of Chinese companies to defray our expenses?

It would be illegal. Note also that in addition to the Chinese getting the oil rights in Iraq, they've gotten the copper mining rights in Afghanistan. The point here is that you can occupy a country but you can't make them love you.

The hundreds of billions of Tarp money went to the Republican-associated financial interests just as the Iraq money has gone to the Republican-associated (Halliburton, for instance) private corporations. Republican love affair with unregulation is to blame.

It's too bad Bush coudn't have spent more time deciding whether Iraq was in our interest. If he had come to the right conclusion we'd be trillions richer rather than the pathetic debtor nation he made us.

And if you think Iraq/Af-Pak is bad, wait till you see what war with Iran will do to us. Another unnecessary war for the Jewish settler lobby.

It appears to me that the war in Iraq was largely a success as compared to the billions of dollars of TARP money spent on banks to blow it in the next Stock Market bubble that is currently under way.

The bottom line is that unless the military closes more camps and consolidates into one massive target, oops I mean camp, then how do you cut services to the military? If you have 80,000 soldiers instead of 160,000- the mail, water and other services still move the same way. It is economics of scale. It still takes one person to handle 3 incoming packages of mail, or 3 bottles of water as it does 6.

My question is why isn't Obama pressing the Iraqi's to bid out oil development to US companies instead of Chinese companies to defray our expenses?

We are about the only country in the world that fights for free. There is a big difference between being a poor country and at war and being a rich country at war. Iraq just happened to be a rich country at war. It goes againt the grain of the Obamanites, who prefer the world like us if we give everything away, but screw em. "We got rid of Sadam now pay up" is my motto. Obama can go cry about injustices to the world's poor (as all of his trillons of TARP money gets used and abused by Wall Street) on someone elses dime.

The reason the US is slow to recover from recession is because all of Obama's TARP money to banks went right back into the Wall St. Casino to build the next bubble vs. going into US factories and production.

We have nitwits running the place.

you've got to be out of your mind! today, the iraqi are no better off than they were under saddam; no electricity 24/7/365; a shortage of level one trama hospitals; inadequate sewage & potable water treatment facilities; the the tigris & euphrates are still major dumping grounds for the ethnically cleansed; everytime president al maliki attempts to reunite the ethinic devisions in baghad proper, we read headlines of horrific suicide bombings- dude i could go on detailing the failures of iraq and the nation building that was attempted there- AT US TAX PAYERS EXPENSE! and that is to say nothing of the corruption within the national government just as we are being made aware of in afghanistan.

those who want to a surge in afghanistan should also support a tax increase to pay for it!

Dick Cheney never made money when KBR was a part of Halliburton....(ok maybe)

When Cheney was Secretary of Defense, the Pentagon chose Halliburton subsidiary Brown & Root to study the cost effectiveness of outsourcing some military operations to private contractors. Based on the not unexpectedly positive results of the study, the Pentagon hired Brown & Root to implement the outsourcing plan. Cheney then was Halliburton CEO from 1995 to 2000 and since then receives vast sums of "deferred compensation." Halliburton's KBR subsidiary has been the largest contractor in Iraq. Halliburton and KBR did not split up until 2007.

This is far more worse and far more costly than the fake pimp and hooker ACORN scandal that the GOP is expressing such false outrage about.

It's safe to assume they're withdrawing from Iraq as slow as possible on purpose so they can continue to rip off the taxpayer for as much as they can.

If the GOP truly cared about corruption with our tax dollars, they would have done everything they could to deny federal funding to KBR, but instead, as usual they ignore yet another real problem. Of course this is natural to a group that's servants to the Military Industrial Complex as opposed to the American people and their tax dollars.